Sometime in mid 2020 we all adopted the phrase “getting back to normal” and sometime in mid 2021, many of us gave up on that sentiment and moved to “the new normal”. Starting 2022 does in some ways seem like a breath of fresh air, full of possibilities and moving on, but the lingering gloom & doom of past experiences isn’t too far in the rearview mirror. And the elephant in the room I’m not addressing by name – Covid-19.
How does the continued pandemic landscape change business as usual for City Paper Company & the promotional marketing space? The work life balance benefits that grew from the pandemic are prevalent in promotional products. There’s an increase in work from home tools, kitchen aids, gym and outdoor leisure products hitting the market.
Our sales team is experiencing covid fatigue and eager to sell promotional products that aren’t considered PPE. The truth is masks, hand sanitizer and covid tests are still selling. There’s a mix of traditional promo and covid tests that our reps are selling, but the truth is business is good. The benefit of PPE sales for our team has turned new prospects from opportunities to sell PPE to new accounts giving us promotional product business.
Looking on the horizon of the first quarter of 2022, we’re hopeful looking forward to what’s to come and benefiting from learned experiences the pandemic has brough on our team. There’s no denying the shakeup that now exists as a result of finding out what the new normal through the ebbs and flows of the variants that exist. The ability to be flexible in what our product offering focus is and where we are selling from will no doubt carry us through the next adventure that is 2022.